Act By Weds. Feb. 15 to Advocate for
Protected Bike Lanes in Ashland!
A recent Streets for Everyone (SFE) survey found that 90% of Ashlanders want our streets to have protected bike lanes. We're excited to let you know that the Ashland City Council is considering adding protected bike lanes on two of our major streets.
If you support protected bike lanes, this is your time to speak up!  One of many varieties of protected bike lanes The city has recently re-established a Transportation Advisory Committee (TAC), replacing the former Transportation Commission. The TAC's next meeting is February 16, 6-8pm. At that meeting, at the request of the City Council, the TAC will consider whether protected bike lanes should be included on upcoming re-paving projects on Ashland Street between Siskiyou and Faith, and on North Mountain from East Main to I-5.
Click here to see the TAC's February 16 meeting agenda. At Streets for Everyone, a volunteer Action Team of the Ashland Climate Collaborative, we believe it should be safe, convenient, and efficient for people of all ages, abilities, and means to choose to bike, walk, and roll throughout Ashland for their everyday travel needs. Protected bike lanes on major streets are essential to achieving this vision. Major street improvements occur only once every 15 to 20 years, so when they do occur, we have an important opportunity to make our streets safer for all road users now and for years to come.
Here’s what YOU can do: Remember: Feb 15th @ 10am is our deadline!
Just the Facts
We’ve compiled some key facts and figures to support your written comments and testimony in support of protected bike lanes: - Incorporating protected bike lanes on major streets whenever a street is re-paved or repaired is the most cost-effective and least disruptive way to modify our local streets to safely include cyclists.
- Studies have shown that protected bike lanes make our streets safer for everyone - including people driving cars.
- Surveys in other communities have found that more than 50 percent of the residents would ride a bike for some of their in-town travel if they didn’t have to share the road with cars/trucks. (See Types of Cyclists)
- Transportation accounts for 40 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in Oregon. Giving people a safe, convenient, and efficient alternative to driving a car (by either walking, biking or rolling) is an important means of reducing emissions.
- Improving safety for those who walk, bike and roll is an important component in creating an affordable and equitable community. Transportation is the second largest household expense for Ashland households, accounting for, on average, for 28% of expenditures for single-person households and 16% for a family of four. If people can forego auto/truck ownership (or own one fewer car) they will increase their spendable income.
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